Saturday, May 27, 2006
Postcards From Lovina
by venitha
*****
"I'm going to need chocolate when we get back to Singapore."
"Yeah. Me, too."
We split our nth black rice pudding with coconut milk, this one atop warm bananas. Yum! But, still, it's not chocolate.
*****
We awake in advance of our 5:15am wake-up call, hearing the 5:00 call to prayer from the nearby mosque.
*****
A blue meteor streaks across the morning sky as we are launched in our own private dolphin boat. Mauve fingers trail delicately through the glossy pale blue Bali Sea, and viewing the sunrise on the water is worth the price of admission, we agree.
Minutes later, we are utterly charmed by school after school of dolphins, appearing rhythmically in graceful effortless arcs just above the water. Several dolphins leap clear of the water vertically and spin around. Tuna, too, jump into the air, shimmering in the sunlight and indicating where the dolphins, their predators, will be spotted next.
*****
Yellow needle-nosed fish nibble bread straight from my hand, though I drop the whole slice in fright and nearly choke on my snorkel when a larger fish with sharp teeth comes to feed.
*****
I read aloud from the Jakarta Post, half of page 3 - this is the day before the Java earthquake - devoted to the latest American Idol, as Sue writes postcards. I brave the local liquor, arak, and Sue enjoys the local beer, Bintang. Neither measures up, however, to last night's indulgence, blue coladas. Settled on with disappointment as the understudy for a piña colada, the blue colada completely showed up the star when the bartender chopped fresh coconuts from a branch, performed some behind-the-bar magic, and presented our drinks with aplomb.
*****
venitha
"I'm going to need chocolate when we get back to Singapore.""Yeah. Me, too."
We split our nth black rice pudding with coconut milk, this one atop warm bananas. Yum! But, still, it's not chocolate.
*****
We awake in advance of our 5:15am wake-up call, hearing the 5:00 call to prayer from the nearby mosque.
*****
A blue meteor streaks across the morning sky as we are launched in our own private dolphin boat. Mauve fingers trail delicately through the glossy pale blue Bali Sea, and viewing the sunrise on the water is worth the price of admission, we agree.
Minutes later, we are utterly charmed by school after school of dolphins, appearing rhythmically in graceful effortless arcs just above the water. Several dolphins leap clear of the water vertically and spin around. Tuna, too, jump into the air, shimmering in the sunlight and indicating where the dolphins, their predators, will be spotted next.*****
Yellow needle-nosed fish nibble bread straight from my hand, though I drop the whole slice in fright and nearly choke on my snorkel when a larger fish with sharp teeth comes to feed.
*****
I read aloud from the Jakarta Post, half of page 3 - this is the day before the Java earthquake - devoted to the latest American Idol, as Sue writes postcards. I brave the local liquor, arak, and Sue enjoys the local beer, Bintang. Neither measures up, however, to last night's indulgence, blue coladas. Settled on with disappointment as the understudy for a piña colada, the blue colada completely showed up the star when the bartender chopped fresh coconuts from a branch, performed some behind-the-bar magic, and presented our drinks with aplomb.
*****
venitha
